Method and apparatus for incubation of eggs



May 30, 1933.

jg. l'. T

F. E. STOVER 1,911,249

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCUBATION OF EGGS Filed Oct. 31, 1930 8Sheets-Sheet 1 m 3 m VENTOR M QLM A TTORNE KS May 39, 1933. F STQVER1,911,249

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INGUBATION OF EGGS Filed Oct. 51, 1930 aSheets-Sheet 2 [NV NTOR sfLill/Lw A TTORNE Y6 May 30, 1933. F. E. sTovER1,911,249

MET HOD AND APPARATUS FOR INGUBATION 0F EGGS Filed 001;. 31, 1930 8Sheets-Sheet 3 VENTOR A TTORNE Y5 'May 30, 1933. STOVER 1,911,249

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCUBATION OF EGGS Filed Oct. 31, 1930 Y 8Sheets-Sheet 4 fzmmwi A TTORNE Y5 May 30, 1933. E STOVER 1,911,249

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCUBATION OF EGGS Filed 001;. 31, 1930 8Sheets-Sheet 5 A TTORNE Y6 jg. H.

F. E. STOVER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCUBATION OF EGGS Filed Oct. 51,1930 Sheets-Sheet 7 1 IVENTOR J(\J Z A TTORNE Y5 M y 1933- F. E. STOVER1,911,249

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCUBATION OF EGGS Filed Oct. 51, 1950 8Sheets-Sheet 8 Jig/Z. 500 38 11v VEN TOR A TTORNE Y6 Patented May 30,1933 UNITED STATES "PATENT oFFice FRANK E. s'roven'or SPRINGFIELD,- omo.assmnon 'ro THE ZBUNDY mconnroa company, or SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, Aconronnrron or OHIO mnrnon AND mena'ros roe meUBArrIon or vseesApplication filed October 31,1930. Serial no. 492,516.

My invention relates to incubators.

It is the object of my invention to provide a method of incubating andhatching which will provide .adequate distribution of heat and moisturefor incubation and appropriate heat and moisture for hatching. whereby.

there will be relatively low moisture during the incubation period toavoid sticky chicks and relatively high moisture during the hatchingperiod in order to provide a soft shell for easy hatching of the chicksfrom the shell; and to further insure that transmission of disease isprevented by having the hatching separate from the incubation, butjoined in a unitary structure in order that the apparatus may beoperated as a unit.

It is a further object to provide an arrangement whereby excess heatproduced during the hatching period may be removed from the eggs in thehatching period.

It is a further object of my invention to provide separate inclosedspaces and a common cabinet, an independent means for stirring the airand.regulating the-moisture in the respective inclosed spaces, as wellas controlling the temperature therein in orderto provide independentcontrol in the single cabinet of a hatching inclosed space andincubation inclosed space.

It is a further object to provide an arrangement by which the air fromthe stirrers will be delivered radially from the tips of the stirrersover the heating elements in the path of the stirrer-s peripherallyarranged around the stirrer blades.

It is my object to provide means for scooping a portion of such heatedair from the cabinet and delivering it through a scoop The methoddisclosed herein is claimed in my divisional application, Serial No.648,367, filed Dec. 22, 1932.

. Referring to the drawings Figure .1 is a front elevation of theunitary cabinet-with the doors of the 'incloscdin'cubation space and"inclosed hatching" space open.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a perspective of the incubating space with a portion of thetrays removed showing the arrangement of the stirrer, heating elements,and means for tilting the egg.

trays, two of the walls being removed for the purpose of illustration.

Figure 4 is a similar View with the trays and tray carriers removedshowing in detail the arrangement of the stirrer, the heating elements,the outlet scoop for heated air and inlet port for heated, humidifiedair.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the dual arrangement of hatchingspaces, one of which has two stacks of trays with the doors open and oneof which has a single stack of trays with the door closed.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 66 of Figure 5 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a section on the line 77 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a view similar to that in Fig ure 5 showing the door open onthe single cabinet and illustrating the movable track in position forguiding the single stack of trays out of the cabinet.

Figure 9, is a perspective of the tray rack with the trays in position.

F gure 10 is a perspective ofthe tray. Flgure 11 1s a perspective of thefloor of the hatching cabinet with the positioning rails and dischargetrack in position.

Figure 12 is a side elevation of the cover in section of the humidifierand of the electric connections together with the switch.

Figure 13 is a top plan View of the thermostat that operates the heatingswitch.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 is the bottom of a cabinet, 2 and3 the side walls 100 thereof, 4 the top, and 5 the back. The cabinet isdivided into an inclosed incubation space 6 and an inclosed hatchingspace 7 by the artition 8.

Suita le' doors 9 control the incubation space and a similar door ordoors 10 the hatching space.

The incubating space is provided with a frame-work consisting of theuprights 11 arranged in a pair at the front of the machine and attachedto the top and bottom thereof by the cross plate 12 which is at tachedto the inside of the top and inside of the bottom of the hatching space7. Mount ed upon these vertical bars is a series of cross bars or crossangle pieces 13, which support pivotally the actuation rods 14, theother ends of which are inserted in the tray holders 15 so that theywill serve to rotate the tray holders which are pivotally mounted uponthe uprights 16 at the back of the cabinet. These tray holders areinterconnected so that they will be moved about their pivots as a unitby the rods 17. To the rods 17 are connected a pitman 17a, cranks 171)on the rod 170 which are actuated by the gears 17d, shaft 176 and handle17 on the exterior of the-cabinet. Thus the trays can be tilted as aunit as shown in Figure 1. The turning means here described is similarto that claimed in copentling applicationSer. No. 418,823.

Behind the trays 15a at the back of the machine is a fiat bladed stirrerhaving the blades 18 attached by the blades 19 to the axle 20. The tipsof these blades are designated 21. The blades are located between thetrays and the rear wall 5 of the incubator. Mounted on this rear wall 5around the periphery of the blades 18 and adjacent the tips 21 thereofare the diagonally disposed heating elements 22. The cables 23 for theseheating elements 22 are carried in the conduit 24. The air leaving thetips 21 of the blades 18 peripherally flows over the heating elements 22In the path of this air which flows off of the tips 21 of the blades 18over the heating elements 22 is a scoop 25 projecting into the cabinetthrough the rear wall 5.

Turning to Figure 12, it is noticed that this scoop delivers the heatedair through the opening 26, thence downwardly through the passageway 27and over the 001 of water 28 from which a supply is pic ed up anddelivered into the passageway 29 by the humidifier wheel 30 that islocated adjacent the opening 31. The air thence passes upwardly over the.partition 32 so as to insure deposition of any excess moisture andthence through the opening 33 downwardly through the passageway 34,having been freed of the excess moisture and then discharges into thepassageway 35, which is shown in Figure 4. This discharge is at rightangles to the flow of the air along the surface of the blades 18, andthence over the heating elements 22. This causes a churning of the airwithin the inclosed space 6 and thorough movement of the air between theeggs in the tilted trays. The trays are provided with the usual wiremesh bottoms such as are shown in Figure 10 at 36. The side walls of thetrays may be perforated with perforations 37. Ordinarily, however, theeggs in the incubating space are placed in trays with solid side walls,while trays with perforated side walls are used in the hatching spacefor reasons hereinafter described.

Electric current is supplied by the cables 38 and 39 to the two poleswitch 40 controlled by the switch handle 41 within the switch box 41'.One pole of this switch is connected to the line 42 which leads to theheating elements. The return line from the heating elements 43 isconnected through the cable 44 to one side of the thermostaticallycontrolled switch 45. The other side of this switch designated 46carried on the rocking arm 47 is connected to the cable 48 that is inturn connected to the other pole 49 of the two pole switch. The twosides of this thermostatically controlled switch 45 and 46 arecontrolled by the rod 49' actuated by the lever 500 and the thermostat510. The details of the actuation of this switch form no part of thepresent invention.

The side of the two pole switch represented by the cable 42 is alsoconnected by the cable 52 to one side ofthe motor 53, the other side ofthe motor being connected by the cable 54 to the terminal 49. This motordrives the humidifier shaft 55 and the humidifier 30. The shaft 55drives the shaft 20 of the stirrer through suitable gearing.

The water 28 in the pan 28a is supplied from the water bottle 28?).

Each hatching space and each incubating space is provided with its ownstirrer motor and humidifier with the necessary complement of switchesto control the cutting in and cutting out of the heating elements. InFigures 5, 6 and 7 are shown these several arrangements.

In each of the types of hatching spaces are found the aligning guiderails 56 supported on the floor in spaced relationship to the floors,side walls and back of the hatching space. These rails are arranged onthree sides of the floor in spaced relationship to the wall of thecabinet. They serve to guide the wheel tray racks which are thuspositioned in spaced relationship with respect to the walls of thehatching space. This tray rack consists of front bottom plate 57 mountedon casters 58 and having up-right corner pieces 59. These corner piecescarry the handles 60 and are joined together at the top with a crossmember 61.

The rear of the frame is similarly arranged, having parts with the samenumbers. These ture. The casters 58 are adapted to be guided into andout of the cabinet on the tracks 66 which are held together by crosspieces 67,

one of which is hinged by the hinges 68 to the outer edge of the bottomof the inclosed space. By thus positioning this portable rack of traysby the guard rail 56, the rack of trays can be brought closely adjacentto the stirrer and the heating element without danger of contacttherewith, either because of the construction of the parts or because ofthe danger of transmission of electric current through the metallictrays and framework. As will be seen in Figure 6, in the case of thehatching space with the single portable rack of trays, the stirrer ismounted to one side of the rack opposite the circulation openings 37 andthe stirring of air causes the air to percolate vertically through theeggs and wire bottom 36 and transversely through the eggs and openings37. Where there are two or more racks used, the air is caused to moveoff of the ends of the blades, to churn the air, and to enter laterallyas described through the sides of the trays although the stirrer islocated at the back of the trays. The trays themselves are separated bya vertical partition 69 and horizontal top and bottom parti- I tions 70and 71 that extend horizontally below the top and above the bottom to apoint within about 8 inches of the plane of movement of the stirrer.

These partitions are located between the racks of trays and insure themovement of the churned air in all directions to the passage of airthrough the openings 37 in the sides of the trays.

Method of operation According to the method of incubation that Ipractice in my incubator, I place the eggs in the incubating space, tiltthem from time to time, stir the air and churn it, cause it to percolatethrough the eggs and impart to it uniform heat by allowing the air toslip off of the fiat blades of the stirrer over the heating elements.Thus all of the heated humidity in the incubating space are theessentials of my invention. I arrange the humidity from 78 to 80 degreeswhile maintaining the temperature at 991/; degrees.

When the eggs are at the end of the 18th" day of incubation, I move themover into the hatching space where I increase the humidity from 84 to 86degrees while maintaining the temperature at 99 degrees. Thus by keepingthe humidity down during incubation, I prevent the chicks from becomingsticky and adhering to-the shell, but upon being put into the hatchingspace, I can safely increase the moisture which softens the shell andenables an easy hatch. The chick is then so far advanced at the 18th daythat the increase in moisture does not have a disadvantageous resultheretofore indicated of excess moisture during the incubation period.This cannot be avoided where the eggs being incubated and eggs beinghatched are in the same space. By using the combined spaces ofincubation with uniform heat and relatively low humidity and hatchingwith uniform heat and relatively high humidity, I secure the new resultof a very soft shell easily broken by the chick while at the sametimethe chick has adequate moisture during its incubation period, but notenough moisture to cause adherence to the shell. Of course, I get thefurther result of prevention of the transmission of disease and ofgreatly increased cleanliness, as the refuse from hatching is kept outof the incubation chamber. By combining the two inclosed spaces in asingle insulated cabinet of usual construction, I am enabled to get thebenefit of the heat in one space with respect to the other as theconduction from one to the other through the adjacent partition wallresults in economy of the total heat. The hatching space can bedisinfected without disturbing the progress of incubation.

It will be understood that I desire-to comprehend within my inventionsuch modifications as may beclearly embraced within the scope of myclaims and invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire'to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination, an inclosed space having therein, a'flat-bladedstirrer and a plurality of heating elements arranged around theperiphery of the stirrer and in the path of the air moving radially fromthe tips of the stirrer. means for operating the stirrer and means forwithdrawing a portion of the air from the inclosed space adjacent thetips of the stirrer and returning it to the center of stirrer, and meansof humidifying said air after it is withdrawn and before it is return-edto the inclosed space.

In combination, an inclosed space having therein, a fiat-bladed stirrerand a pinrality of heating elements arranged around the periphery of thestirrer and in the path of the air moving radially from the tips of thestirrer, means for operating the stirrer, and means of withdawing aportion of the air from the tips of the stirrer and returning it to thecenter of the stirrer, and means of immidifying said air after it iswithdrawn and before it is returned to the inclosed space, and a commonmeans of actuating the stirrer and the humidification means.

3. In an incubator, an inclosed space having therein, a plurality ofspaced stacks of egg trays having side apertures and foraminous bottomswith closed ends, a vertical partition between the fronts of said stacksof trays, horizontal partitions at the top and bottom of said stacks oftrays extending backwardly to the ends of said trays, a stirrer behindsaid trays, and means for operating the stirrer.

4. In an. incubator,-an inclosed space having therein, a plurality ofspaced stacks of egg trays having side apertures and foraminous bottomswith closed ends, a vertical partition between the fronts of said stacksof trays, horizontal partitions at the top and bottom of said stacks oftrays extending backwardly to the ends of said trays, a stirrer behindsaid trays, means for operating the stirrers, and means for heating theair arranged peripherally of said stirrer.

5. In an incubator, an inclosed space having therein, a plurality ofspaced stacks of egg trays having side apertures and foraminous bottomswith closed ends, a vertical partition between the fronts of said stacksof trays, horizontal partitions at the top and bottom of said stacks oftrays extending backwardly to the ends of said trays, a stirrer behindsaid trays, means for operating the stirrer, means for heating theairarranged peripherally of said stirrer, means for extracting a portionof the air so heated, means for humidifying the extracted portion, andmeans for returning said extracted portion centrally of the stirrer.

G. In an incubator, an inclosed space having therein a plurality ofspaced stacks of egg trays having side apertures and foraminous bottomswith closed ends, a vertical partition between the fronts of said stacksof trays, horizontal partitions at the top and bottom of said stacks oftrays exending backwardly to the ends of said trays, a stirrer behindsaid trays, means for operating the stirrer, means for heating the airarranged peripherally of said stirrer, means for extracting a portion ofthe air so heated, means-for huinidifying the extracted portion, meansfor returning said extracted portion central- 1y of the stirrer, andmeans for positioning said stacks of egg trays in predeterminedrelationship to said partition, the side walls of the cabinet, and thestirrer.

7. In an incubator, the combination of a corporating the liquid in theair which is being agitated by the first mentioned air agitatmg means.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature. FRANK E. STOVER.

DISCLAIMER 1,911,249.Fmnk E. Stover, Springfield, Ohio. METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR INCUBATION OF EGGS. Patent dated May 30, 1933. Disclaimerfiled July 15, 1935, by the patentee, the assignee, The Bandy IncubatorCompany, consenting. 4 Hereby enters this disclaimer of claim 7, of thesaid patent, which is in the following words, to wit:

7. In an incubator, the combination of a cabinet, means to supporteggsin the cabinet, means to agitate the air inthe cabinet, means forholding a pool of humidifying liquid, and mechanical means adapted toagitate this liquid and air adjacent the liquid for incorporating theliquid in the air which is being agitated by the first mentioned airagitating means.

[Oficial Gazette August 6, 1935.]

